NAME: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30th 1882- April 12th 1945)


PARTY: Democrat

TERMS: (1933-37), (37-41), (41-45), (45- death)

VP: John N. Garner (1933-37 & 1937-41)
Henry A. Wallace (1941-45)
Harry S. Truman (1945)


F.D.R was the first and only president to serve for more than 2 terms. But who can blame him for doing so, he did such a fantastic job in his first two terms and helping to get America out of the depression that it is no wonder America kept electing him over and over again. The Great Depression was one of the worst disasters ever to hit America since the Civil War and the fact that this man and his “New Deal” were able to pull us through such a difficult time definitely deserves him an A. And not only did this man help America with their depression, Roosevelt also had to deal with the Second World War beginning in the first year of his third term as president with the attack on Pearl Harbor and lasting through the next three and a half years before he died of cerebral hemorrhage just before the end of the war.

When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he knew he had a lot of work to do to get America back on track. Going into office he had a plan called the “New Deal” which called for three main ideas: Relief, Recovery, and Reform. To achieve this, FDR had several tricks up his sleeve and he did not waste any time putting them to action. Within the first hundred days of his presidency, he and his congress were able to bring relief to those who had no jobs and were in danger of losing their farms or homes, recovered the businesses and agriculture, and overall reformed America. All this began just 5 days after his inauguration. When Roosevelt ran for his third term, his goal was to do anything and everything possible to keep America out of the war. His efforts were to no avail, however, as America did indeed get involved in the war in December of the year of his inauguration following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Roosevelt and Congress got on famously during his presidency. If they hadn’t have been able to get along as well as they did the country would have been in a lot worse shape during this time. Roosevelt wanted to enact all these different administrations and acts under his “New Deal” and he was able to pass them because he had a Congress that agreed with what he was doing.

The most positive and also effective action made by President Roosevelt was by far the “First New Deal” in his first term as president, for this was the beginning of national recovery. One of the most popular, and also Roosevelt’s favorite agency was the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC). This hired 250,000 unemployed young men to work on rural local projects such as firefighting. Another was the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) which was made to get farmers to produce fewer crops. The worst decision made by Roosevelt was to take the nation off the gold standard. Not only was this strongly opposed by American citizens, but it also led to insufficiency in the budget. One reason it was opposed was that people thought it to be unconstitutional of the president to pass this order; however, he did indeed have the authority to do so due to the “War Time Powers Act” passed in 1917 which gave him executive powers on special occasions. Roosevelt also had proposed a law which would allow him to appoint new justices to the Supreme Court. This proposal appalled people; however, the law was never actually passed, so it wasn’t that big of a deal whereas taking the nation off the gold standard directly affected the public.

Roosevelt’s “New Deal” impacted not only the people living during this dreadful time period, but also the future of America because many of the laws passed are still around today, if revised a little. His legacy of being the President that got America through both the Great Depression and World War II makes him very well known and admired. Also, V-E Day is dedicated in his memory by Harry S. Truman, his V.P and the soon-to-be president.

In conclusion, F.D. Roosevelt was indeed one of the best presidents because of the fantastic job he did reforming, relieving, and recovering America, and overall just holding the nation together when the going got tough. Because he did such a good job, Roosevelt deserves an A for his 3-and-one-month terms.



<http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Franklin_D._Roosevelt>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Roosevelt>
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt>